The BRUT brand has represented a classic, American definition of masculinity for over 40 years, positioned in the market as “The Essence of Man.”

“(BRUT’s buyer has) been around.  He’s the kind of guy who sees fragrance as part of his daily grooming routine,” said Marc Broccoli, Marketing Director at Idelle Management Company.  “This campaign is basically almost a homage to him, and we tried to make it younger without walking away from the brand.”

Only two days out in the market, the BRUTslap campaign is quickly gaining traction with consumers.  The comedic execution utilizes a variety of social media and digital elements to celebrate the differences in everyone and being true to yourself.  To find out who is being BRUTslapped right now, visit the brutslap.com, facebook.com/brut and @BRUTworld.

For more details, below are links to the buzz around town for the BRUTslap campaign:

-  BRUT Slap-Happy For Younger Guys, Real Men, MediaPost

-  Slap-Happy Site Focus of BRUT Campaign, Response Magazine

- The BRUT — BRUTSlap Ad Campaign Launch Party, Examiner

-  Re-emerging Brands, Newsworthy Trends:

-  Twitter Buzz,  #BRUTslap

In August this year it hit the 1 million subscriber mark for its YouTube channel, with individual videos receiving view tallies well over 20 million each.

It made the current Bloomberg Business Week “Popularity Issue” as the Top Web Series. And it was recently discovered by my family during our annual beach vacation. Ugh! Why the ugh? It’s the Annoying Orange.

And it’s exactly that. Annoying Orange is the wisecracking, purposely irritating punster who stars in his own YouTube web series.

The videos feature a real orange with superimposed human eyes and lips.  The plot line for each video is simple: Annoying Orange meets his episode’s co-star(s): another fruit, vegetable, object, or even other YouTube “celebs.”  Annoying Orange tells jokes, laughs a lot, makes fun of and annoys the co-star, who ends up being eliminated, whether it’s by knife (the demise of most fruits and veggies), or by some other physical comedy.

Having had to listen to and/or watch the videos again and again during my vacation, and looking to make lemons out of lemonade (or orange juice out of oranges), the videos got me thinking about what’s making this series so amazingly popular, and what marketers can learn from it in attracting an audience.

It’s simple, basic, and consistently updated – Seriously, no big budgets here.  It’s just a talking orange with a little bit of editing magic and other household props.  The plot lines are mindless, easy for anyone of any age to get, and pure shtick.  And the videos are refreshed every Friday – a good reason to subscribe and/or return to the site.

It’s quick – The videos are less than three minutes each.  No attention span needed.  A great video “snack” for anyone surfing through YouTube. It’s appropriate for the channel – According to eMarketer, videos shot by consumers and uploaded to YouTube (i.e., user generated) are the most frequently watched type of online video.  (May 2010 stat)

It leverages partners – A few of the videos feature other YouTube “celebs” as the targets of Annoying Orange’s antics.  At the end, you can click and go to these stars’ specific YouTube channels.  It’s an interesting means of cross-selling these “brands” within the YouTube community.

It has lots of engagement opportunities – The Annoying Orange YouTube channel features, and each of the videos end with, lots and lots of engagement opportunities.  Calls to action include: follow on Twitter, Facebook, answer a question relevant to the video in the comments section, buy a shirt, download a ringtone, subscribe to the channel, or just click to watch another episode.  Annoying Orange truly is its own brand looking for ongoing loyalty.

Now, I’m not suggesting that marketers use third-grade boy level jokes, bodily function noises, nor any type of produce in their creative approaches in order to achieve success.  Rather, Annoying Orange is an interesting case in how to deliver content and sell a brand, without letting a consumer know that you’re really selling a brand.  It’s the right content, in the proper amount, delivered in the perfect channel, and given support, ongoing attention, and engagement opportunities that make it work.

Interesting to note that despite its popularity, very little has been written about the Annoying Orange.  CNN.com – one of the few press sites that has picked it up – said that the current Nabisco Cheez-Its “Mature Cheese” is probably the closest creative rip-off of the series.

Hey…hey reader.  Hey reader.  Orange you glad I shared these insights?  *rimshot*  Ugh.

Diego Stocco – Music From A Tree from Diego Stocco on Vimeo.

Discovering new and unique ways to create something different from a common object or idea is a challenge for all creatives. We often set our own boundaries and expectations of what something “should” be, defined either by the project parameters or personal preferences. Overcoming these limitations opens up a world of new experiences and fresh inspiration for our work.

Let’s consider the words of A.A. Milne, best known for his books about Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children’s poems:

“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.”

What can YOU do with your tree?